CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE

  The Orbit of Accrakos - Naval Armada

  Tumultuous coils of primeval nature, a marbled swath of violet hues blanketed the planet's surface. It was the fiercest storm any of the Naval officers had ever encountered, impossible to pass for even the hardiest of ships. Admiral Hail slouched at the helm of the Noche Protega, looking down on the Maelstrom with seething resentment. He detested the inability to act. A steadfast leader of men left to stew in frustration had set his crew on edge. Alongside his smoldering impatience, the temperature of the bridge began creeping upward.

  Demystifying the strange abilities possessed by each Admiral seemed a task beyond attempt. Hail's secrets were firmly locked away, a stranglehold of fear preventing even a murmur of discussion from his subordinates. His subordinate — the unshakable Captain Susa Noctei — stood impeccably straight, rouge beads of sweat trickling down her cheek onto a pristinely folded collar. Having already felt the consequence of failure, the ever-present promise of further discipline kept her lips tightly bound.

  Hail took long draws on his cigarette, smoke seeping through the unruly wedge of hair curled over his top lip. He let out a grumble with each exhalation, and the technicians at the station in front shuddered with unease.

  A portly lieutenant shuffled through gasping doors to the right of the room. Already out of breath, he stood panting to the side of the Admiral, his presence going unacknowledged.

  "Pardon the intrusion, Admiral, but there still hasn't been any word from Mr.Teege and his men." He reported nervously, unable to capture even a glimmer of interest from the Admiral.

  "All attempted contact with the Accran has gone unanswered, and the scans show unnatural levels of seismic activity across the entire planet. The other Captains await your orders, sir." Fumbling every other word through a pronounced stammer, the lieutenant watched displeasure build on the Admiral's brow. Hail turned his head, and a long plume of smoke dragged through his lips. He locked eyes with his terrified lieutenant, the news only worsening his perpetually foul mood.

  "No word from the other two? I assume off on a ridiculous peace offering or trying to turn pirate filth into good soldiers. Never around when the pressure is on. When there's real work to be done." Hail said, flicking the butt of his cigarette and narrowly missing the ear of a trembling technician.

  His disdain for his peers was well known, so mention of them was omitted from the majority of discussions.

  "Admirals Indra and Gesa have both been informed of the unfolding situation and are headed to our location as we speak, sir. Admiral Gesa reported a second Levantikar sighting. Her intel shows it approaching the galaxy's outer spiral arm." He paused as the mention of a Levantikar piqued Hail's interest.

  "Go on."

  "After tracking the trajectory of the entity we encountered, their destinations seem identical. They're heading toward Accrakos, sir." All bridge staff turned to face the lieutenant, hoping desperately that he had misspoken. Hail reclined in his chair, head sunken into his shoulders and dark circles engulfing his eyes. Despite the Levantikar not being prone to attack, a creature of that size could wipe out the entire armada. With a sizable minority of the Naval fleet assembled above Accrakos, their position had become jeopardized. Hail had to make a decision.

  He sighed, pulling himself from his chair and activating a standing salute from his crew.

  "Order half of the fleet back to the Fallonark — the rest to Golgotha. I want nothing to come within a hundred thousand kilometers of that place. Nothing. The Lanza and two destroyers stay here. The Cybel will not leave here alive." Hail's words were like hot embers bellowing from a furnace. Volka and Khan had alluded Naval capture for over a century, and, much like Teege, Hail took it personally.

  A salute followed by a chorus of yes sir's echoed throughout the bridge before the crew scrambled to their various stations. Hail knew that his request of three ships remaining behind wouldn't be sufficient for taking on the Cybel. However, with the planetary-sized threat of two Levantikar heading their way, he was forced to put the safety of the armada above his grudge.

  "Go on then. Back to your ship." Hail grunted at Noctei. Her eyes widened with surprise. After the beating she received for failing him against the Gallowmare, she was sure her chances of promotion were extinguished.

  "Yes, Sir." She replied, proceeding swiftly to the transport vessel, her Naval insignia cape swaying proudly behind her. Her redemption had come, and at a more pivotal point in history, there was not. Like the Penumbra onslaught and Eureka Calamity before, the unfolding events would be chronicled as the era when the tides turned in the fight against the pirate menace. There was no doubt in her mind that Captain Noctei of the Plata Lanza would be a name immortalized, a true champion of justice.

  Noctei approached the narrow, brightly lit hallway that led to the central dock. As she marched toward her transport vessel, the hallway fell into darkness. Red emergency lighting kicked in almost immediately, and proximity warnings flashed onto nearby Holo-screens.

  "Impossible," She muttered to herself. The Levantikar were still days away from their position. However, the scale of the object the scanners had identified was anomalous. She tore herself away from the troubling discovery and sprinted to the dock.

  Panicked Naval officers scurried around her. She emerged into the grand expanse of the landing bay and joined a group of engineers staring intently through the immense glass pane of the docking iris.

  Her lips fell apart. Accrakos sat dead center. The vicious storms that ravaged her surface had parted in a fissure of brilliant white. Vast oceans peeled from the surface, gravity contorting the cosmic rivers into helix-shaped structures as they drifted into the void. The true spectacle, however, emerged from the planet's innermost depths. The once dormant heart of the oceanic paradise burst forth into the universe, releasing a cry of revival destined to reverberate for eons. A third Levantikar had awoken.